NewsRestitution
London’s Horniman Museum—home to 15 Benin bronzes—announces new ‘transparent procedures’ for looted object requests
South London museum has released new policies on restitution but says it will need to seek legal advice about the right to return artefacts
NewsRestitution
German Nazi-looted art panel recommends return of Franz Marc’s Foxes to heirs of Jewish banker
The decision on whether to return the painting, which hangs in Dusseldorf’s Kunstpalast, will be made by the city assembly in April
InterviewRestitution
Why African voices are crucial to the debate over the return of colonial loot
Senegalese art historian El Hadji Malick Ndiaye says discussions and decisions about the restitution of African artefacts cannot be dictated by the West
NewsArt market
Hobby Lobby claims Israeli collector Joseph David Hackmey consigned allegedly looted Gilgamesh tablet to Christie's
The arts and crafts chain has amended its complaint regarding the ancient tablet, which it bought for at auction for $1.67m in 2014. It was seized by US authorities in 2019
NewsGuelph Treasure
US Supreme Court sides with Germany in Guelph Treasure case
In a unanimous opinion, it found the country cannot be sued for taking property from its own citizens, making it harder for the heirs of some Holocaust victims to recover art through the US justice system
NewsRestitution
Netherlands takes lead in Europe’s efforts to return artefacts to former colonies
The Dutch government adopts a committee’s “radical” guidelines, putting it at the forefront of European efforts to return colonial-era museum acquisitions
NewsArt market
In the battle against antiquities trafficking, Germany develops app to identify looted cultural heritage
Government-funded image-recognition software will enable law enforcers to work with international organisations
NewsRestitution
French Senate and government lock horns on restitution
Deputies rejected senators' proposal for a national council to advise the government on future restitution claims
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Can mediation save a sharing settlement over Nazi-looted Pissarro?
A Paris court has ordered Léone-Noëlle Meyer and the University of Oklahoma to return to the negotiating table
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Hunt still on for a Van Gogh self-portrait lost deep in a salt mine during the Second World War
The Magdeburg masterpiece may have been burned at the end of hostilities—but some believe it might have been looted and survive
NewsLooted art
Museum of the Bible returns hand-written gospels looted from Greece during the First World War
The Eikosiphoinissa Manuscript 220 was among hundreds of objects taken from the Kosinitza Monastery by Bulgarian separatist troops in 1917
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
New York authorities return ancient stele to Egypt
The object was seized on its way to an art fair last year and came from the same network that sold other looted antiquities to museums
NewsLooted art
Jewish collections looted by the Nazis to be examined and traced in new database
The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project will begin with a pilot scheme focusing on the Old Masters collection of Adolphe Schloss, which was seized by the Gestapo
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Ten most wanted antiquities: have you seen these missing artefacts?
The Antiquities Coalition releases a list of “infamous cases of cultural racketeering”
NewsArt crime
Man tries to take artefact from Louvre—just two weeks after being charged for the same crime at Quai Branly
Congolese activist Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza, fined €1,000 earlier this month, will go to court again later today
NewsRestitution
Black Lives Matter movement is speeding up repatriation efforts, leading French art historian says
Bénédicte Savoy—co-author of the Sarr-Savoy report that recommends France return its African artefacts—warns of "collective amnesia" over restitution debates that happened 40 years ago
NewsRestitution
Dutch government committee recommends return of colonial-era artefacts
The report calls for a new panel to advise the minister on repatriations and a new provenance research centre
NewsArt market
Douglas Latchford's death reignites unresolved controversy over alleged smuggling of Cambodian antiquities
News of the death of dealer and expert in South East Asian art raises strong reactions and unanswered questions
NewsRestitution
Turin museum pays settlement to Jewish heirs for Renaissance Madonna that was looted by Nazis
Family of Gustav Arens also receive French government compensation for a Tintoretto painting and a Dutch landscape
NewsArt market
American collector to sue France over restitution of $1.7m Pissarro painting
Real estate developer Bruce Toll claims compensation after French High court confirms return of Pissarro's Pea Harvest to heirs of collector Simon Bauer
NewsAuctions
Waning market for African artefacts? Controversial Benin bronze fails to sell at Christie's
Academics challenge the provenance of the Edo plaque as well as two Igbo alusi figures that sold under estimate for €212,500
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Paris dealer who sold golden sarcophagus to New York’s Metropolitan Museum charged with fraud and money laundering
The work was returned to Egypt last year after officials were shown evidence it might have been looted during the Arab Spring in 2011
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Facebook and Instagram ban trading of historical artefacts
Heritage group Athar were part of a campaign highlighting the social media giants' “black market in antiquities”
NewsArt market
Historic Tunisian items withdrawn from Paris auction after heritage body claims works left country illegally
More than 100 objects once belonging to the Tunisian politician Habib Djellouli, including an ancient Quran, are at the centre of the controversy
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Hobby Lobby sues Christie’s for selling it an antiquity authorities say was looted
The auction house knew that the provenance of an ancient cuneiform tablet inscribed with the Epic of Gilgamesh was made up, lawsuit claims
NewsArt collection
Looted Benin treasures to go online in international project led by Hamburg museum
Project is backed by the Ernst von Siemens art foundation, which seeks “a more factual focus to the discussions about restitution”
NewsRestitution
'We want to be part of the solution': UK museum says it is open to discussing fate of Benin bronze after prince demands its return
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery wants to work in tandem with the Benin Dialogue Group, which is made up of institutions that hold the majority of the pieces
NewsArt fairs
Aggressive seizures by police at Brafa leave dealers feeling ‘assaulted’
Authorities brazenly took 34 artefacts during public opening hours at the Brussels fair
NewsRestitution
India asks Ashmolean Museum to return 15th-century bronze idol believed stolen from temple
Independent scholar uncovers questionable provenance for the sculpture that the Oxford institution bought from Sotheby's in 1967
NewsLoot
Looted ancient temple sculpture—seized by UK police—will go home to Afghanistan
British Museum and Art Loss Register collaborate over recovery of ancient bull decoration that was consigned to an online auction
NewsRestitution
Three Nazi-looted works bought by Gurlitt return to Jewish collector’s heirs
Two paintings by Jean-Louis Forain were discovered in Cornelius Gurlitt’s trove; the third work, by Constantin Guys, was restituted by another family member
NewsThe Year in Review 2019
From trafficked treasures to the ravages of climate change: the heritage headlines of 2019
We look back at the biggest stories of the year
NewsRestitution
George Soros's Open Society Foundations pledges $15m to help Africa recover looted heritage
Paid over four years, it will support efforts made by museums, grassroots-organisations and governments
NewsArt market
Abuse of diplomatic privilege? How missing art has been linked to embassy officials
Recent cases involving stolen art have raised questions over the behaviour of diplomats
NewsLooted art
Looted coffin acquired by Metropolitan Museum is headed back to Egypt
US and Egyptian officials presided over handover at a repatriation ceremony in New York
NewsRestitution
German Nazi loot panel divided on Max Stern painting—but returns it to his heirs anyway
For first time, advisory team stipulates that work must not be sold for ten years in case evidence emerges that contradicts its ruling
NewsSmuggling
Stolen artefacts from 'prolific art smuggler' returned to India
Objects are reportedly linked to antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor who is facing criminal charges in the US
NewsLooted art
US authorities file criminal charges against antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor and seven others
The government’s complaint outlines a massive alleged smuggling ring involving other dealers, art restorers and associates who helped create false provenances for looted objects
ArchiveLooted art
Top museums in Europe and North America face claims for Dürers looted during World War II
Poland and the Ukraine both want the Lubomirski drawings back
NewsNazi loot
Mass theft of art from East German citizens revealed in new report
Study reveals that up to 8% of museum acquisitions were looted from private citizens
NewsNazi loot
Court case over three Derain paintings will test France's promise to speed up Nazi-era claims
Grandchildren of art dealer René Gimpel accuse French culture ministry of blocking restitution of works hanging in state museums
NewsLaw
US Supreme Court declines to hear appeal on Nazi-looted art
Norton Simon Museum can keep two Lucas Cranach masterpieces
NewsLooting
Heirs of Baron Herzog continue battle for Nazi-looted art collection despite US Supreme Court dismissal
Decades-long case to reclaim works held in Hungary’s museums will now go through US District Court
NewsUkraine
Ivan the Terrible returns to Ukraine
19th-century oil painting, stolen during the Second World War, was found in the US
NewsAustria
Austria returns wrong Klimt to wrong family
Painting of apple trees is pulled from exhibition after admission that its restitution was a mistake
NewsLooting
President Rouhani personally takes looted ancient relief back from New York to Tehran
Piece depicting a Persian soldier was seized last year at Tefaf New York
InterviewLooted art
Meet the amateur art sleuth who is helping India recover its stolen antiques
Shipping company executive S. Vijay Kumar was responsible for recovering a Buddha stolen from India 57 years ago among many other looted works
NewsLooted art
Looted Renoir is returned to French heir in New York
Granddaughter of Jewish collector flies in for restitution ceremony
NewsLaw
Court rejects claim to Matisse owned by National Gallery
Rebuffing heirs, an appeals panel in New York says the court lacks jurisdiction
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Starry Night is held by Russian government
Van Gogh drawing had been folded in half in 1945 to fit inside a suitcase
NewsLucas Cranach the Elder
Goudstikker heir files petition for rare rehearing of Cranach claim
Marei von Saher asks an appeals court in California to reconsider her case against the Norton Simon Museum
ReviewBooks
The tortuous story of Gustav Klimt’s Nazi-looted, 100ft-wide Beethoven Frieze uncovered
New book exploring work's provenance is a must-read for those interested in the contentious field of art restitution
NewsRestitution
Angola recovers six artefacts looted from museum during civil war
Dundo Museum's lost objects were traced by the Sindika Dokolo Foundation
NewsCultural policy
UK permits Nazi-looted Meissen figure to leave for Japan despite spoliation claim
There appear to be no winners in what the Arts Council refers to as an “extremely unusual” case
NewsLooted art
Berlin’s Ethnological Museum returns Alaskan grave artefacts looted by explorer
The objects “do not belong in our museums”, says the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
NewsLooted art
Hamburg museum says its Benin bronzes could return to Nigeria—but not yet
Applied arts institution is showing the sculptures in a looted art exhibition
NewsRestitution
Damning report says France must catch up, fast, in return of Nazi-era loot
Heritage expert calls for new government taskforce to guide provenance research and even rule on restitution cases
NewsRestitution
German researchers trace Jewish newspaper mogul’s vast Nazi-looted art collection
The Mosse Art Research Project, a cooperation with the German government, identifies eight works and launches online database
NewsLooting
Will the British Museum lend Nigeria the Benin bronzes?
Planned museum in Benin City offers safe environment for Western collections, the country says
NewsLooting
Scotland Yard joins global crackdown on looted pharaonic antiquities
The initiative, which involves governments and the art world, will set up a public database of objects
NewsLooted art
Germany to fund museum investigations into provenance of colonial-era artefacts
The German Lost Art Foundation, which also looks into Nazi-loot, will allocate the government grants
News
Louvre shines a light on Nazi loot
Museum hopes to find rightful heirs through display of spoliated works
NewsRestitution
Germany names new head of Nazi-looted art panel
Hans-Jürgen Papier fills post held by Jutta Limbach until her death last year
NewsOpenings
Washington's new $500m Museum of the Bible claims 'non-sectarian' mission
Private institution is funded by evangelical Hobby Lobby chairman, Steve Green
NewsLooted art
Düsseldorf abruptly cancels exhibition about Jewish dealer Max Stern
City authorities cite ongoing restitution claims as reason for decision
NewsLooted art
Painting looted from Hitler to be auctioned in Cologne
Van Ham to offer Franz von Stuck portrait in 17 November sale
NewsRestitution
Painting in Gurlitt hoard identified as Nazi loot—thanks to a tiny repair hole
Portrait by Thomas Couture belonged to a French politician who opposed the Nazis
NewsLooted art
Islamic State's looting of antiquities is rising but hard facts remain scarce
Experts question the reported size of illicit trade, particularly as the number of fake artefacts increases
BlogIn the frame
Draw your own conclusions
Fill in the blanks of art crimes solved and unsolved with two new adult colouring books
InterviewAnne Webber
How can museums speed up the return of art looted during the Nazi era?
Conference at London's National Gallery this week looks at how the process can be accelerated
ArchiveWar & Conflict
Curators, art historians and museum directors sought by the US Army to provide expert advice in combat zones
Wanted: a new generation of Monuments Men
ArchiveIslamic State
Director of V&A proposes network of museums to stop terrorists looting objects in Syria and trafficking them for sale in the West
V&A fights back against Islamic State
ArchiveCambodia
Light is finally being shed on the issue of restitution of looted art
The restitution of Cambodian statues by major museums and auction houses is an encouraging sign
ArchiveCambodia
The US announces plans to to return more Khmer Cambodian artefacts, adding momentum to Cambodia's quest for restitution
Cambodian officials believe the last two looted works out of seven are in Denver Art Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art
ArchiveMuseums
Australia's ill-advised purchase of Indian artefact
The National Gallery of Australia bought the Shiva statue despite uncertainty over its provenance
ArchiveCambodia
Sotheby's Cambodian smuggling saga quietly resolved out of court
The auction house returns statue and is cleared of wrongdoing as federal government drops allegations
ArchiveCambodia
Western museums under pressure from China, Turkey, and Cambodia to fulfil restitution claims
The number of artefacts under restitution claims is rising
ArchiveLooted art
The Dutch government gives up its claim on Nazi loot
The decision not to appeal cannot but weaken its claim to other war booty such as the Koenigs collection still held in Russia
ArchiveCollectors
How the missing Zodiac fountain heads continue to be a sore point for China
Several have appeared at auction in recent years; the whereabouts of five remain unknown
ArchiveCollectors
Many Chinese collectors use their wealth to repatriate once-looted objects
Why bringing it back home is a mark of respect
ArchiveRestitution
'Where is the crown of Maqdala?', V&A asks Ethiopia
Crown that was returned in 1925 has disappeared
ArchiveNews
Ukraine suffered “colossal” looting during World War II
New research challenges Russians’ claim that they own many cultural valuables from the independent state
ArchiveRestitution
Minneapolis hands Léger to collector’s family
The painting was stolen from its Jewish owner during the Nazi occupation of France
ArchiveBenin Bronzes
Lehman gift of Benin treasures to Museum of Fine Arts angers Nigeria
Works looted by the British and reassembled by banking heir find permanent home in Boston
ArchiveRestitution
US collector returns artefacts to Greece
Shelby White restitutes a marble relief fragment and a bronze calyx krater, both from the fourth century BC
ArchiveNational Museum of Iraq
Two books survey the deterioration of Iraq's cultural heritage fives years after war took hold
Sorry tales of devastation and waste, with little hope on the horizon
ArchiveIraq
5 years after the Baghdad Museum's looting, a little optimism is finally appropriate: Interview with the British Museum's John Curtis
The situation at the Baghdad Museum remains bleak but thieves are less of a problem at archaeological sites
ArchiveArt market
Insurance for war loot claims on the rise
Increasing numbers of private collectors, dealers, museums, and banks have been buying policies to protect their assets
ArchiveLawsuits
Dodgy dealers, curators and collectors named in the Marion True trial in Rome
The latest in the trial of former Getty antiquities curator, Marion True, and the Paris-based dealer Robert Hech both charged with conspiring to receive illegally excavated antiquities
ArchiveAntiquities & Archaeology
UCL damned over handling of looted Aramaic antiquities
A report which concluded that ancient bowls on loan from a Norwegian collector “must have been illegally excavated in Iraq” has not been made public
ArchiveRestitution
US collector Brooke Allen returns relics sacred to Kenyan tribe
The works were part of an estate the collector inherited from her parents
ArchiveLooted art
The German museum paintings secretly sold by the British government in 1946
Nearly 80 pictures, including works by Cranach and Kauffmann, were seized from the German embassy in London
ArchiveCommercial galleries
Iran loses case against Barakat Gallery ordering return of artefacts seemingly taken from Jiroft
UK courts ruled that Iran presented insufficient evidence to warrant the antiquities' reacquisition
ArchiveLawsuits
Norwegian collector to sue British university for return of his antiquities
But scholars say they are likely to have been looted from Iraq
ArchiveRestitution
Germans call for return of paintings in the National Maritime Museum seized by British troops
The London museum has turned down two previous requests for restitution
ArchiveUnesco
“Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan”: recording and illustrating key objects in the Kabul Museum
Unesco has published a record of the 1,600 objects acquired by the institution between 1931 and 1985
ArchiveLooted art
The US Army’s hidden collection of Nazi art
Around 450 paintings made by artists working for the Third Reich are now in Washington, DC. They are unlikely to be returned to Germany
CommentLeaders
Gilded coffin gives Met a golden opportunity
To prevent similar high-profile losses in the future, the Met should hire a permanent, full-time provenance curator
Rick St. Hilaire